Landing cards to be scrapped at UK border as soon as Monday

Non-EU arrivals to the United Kingdom won’t have to remember their pen from next week, with landing cards set to be scrapped.

Passengers arriving on passports from outside the European Union and European Economic Area have been required to fill out the blue cardboard documents on each arrival since 1971, regardless of their status in the United Kingdom.

It meant many UK residents were required to repeatedly fill out details already known by the Home Office every time they returned from a business trip or a weekend away.

Proposals to bin the cards were first revealed in 2017, when the Home Office said the system cost the taxpayer £3.6m per year.

It also said at the time that the landing cards’ primary purpose was statistical, with security of the UK border maintained by the human immigration officers manning the passport control desks.

According to the BBC, the cards will no longer be required from next Monday.

The Home Office did not deny the reports to media, simply stating that the department did not comment on leaks.